


Just Visiting

by simply_luna



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Friendship, IN SPACE!, Other, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simply_luna/pseuds/simply_luna
Summary: While out on the road, Steven makes a trip to see an old friend.
Kudos: 2





	Just Visiting

Just Visiting

"Should I head over?" Steven typed, sending the text. Sitting on the hood of the Dondai, his guitar leaning against the silver exterior, Steven leaned back. The sky was black, and full of stars, which you could see so clearly in the middle of nowhere. The moon was only waning and was stuck in the middle of the sky, it was kinda late. Steven breathed in the fresh forest air. It rained last night, in fact it got so bad he had to park for the night. He set his phone down and stared off. Identifying Homeworld's galaxy wasn't so hard anymore,  
and he wished it wasn't a bad thing to think about but, he was working through it. It all takes time. He breathed again, and exhaled heavily. Stevens phone went off, startling him.   
"i'll be ready when you do" The text read. A portal that swirled with pastel pinks and blues opened and out came Lion, skidding you're a quiet halt. Steven sat up. No Connie, he sighed. Even though he'd been texting her on breaks, he still missed her. The thought of his proposal crept in and he acknowledged it, but let it drift off. Like his therapist told him, intrusive thoughts are good if you don't act on them. He slid off the hood of the car as Lion stepped a bit closer. The two shared a hug and Lion liked Stevens cheek lightly, he smiled.   
"Aww, thanks buddy." After a warm 8 second hug, Steven stepped away and held his breath. Lion allowed Steven to jump into his mane. 

The dimension was still Pink, windy, and grassy. Not much had changed. Steven ignored his mother's tree and stroller towards the one on the other side of the pocket dimension. He brushed his bare hands against the grass...and then he thought...was it even grass? It didn't necessarily matter. This would be Stevens first visit with Lars since he left with the Off Colors and since Stevens meltdown, of which Steven will have to tell Lars about. He wasn't particularly excited about that part. He sighed and hopped through the ground and came out of Lars' head. He didn't land the way he was expecting.   
"Steven! Are you okay?" Lars asked, alarmed. Steven picked himself up off the ground and turned towards Lars. He was wearing the iconic space pirate outfit, sitting in the captains chair. He looked so happy, which Steven was happy about.   
"Yeah, Yeah I'm fine." He chuckled nervously. Although it wasn't perfectly true, it was still mostly true. Maybe Steven could avoid the subject entirely. The green ship glistened around him, but the crew was missing. "Where are the Off Colors?" He asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.   
"Oh," Lars lightly chuckled. "They all are on break downstairs. They'll come up later." He explained, leaning back in the seat. He rested his chin on his fist.   
"Oh. Alright. How have you been? Done anything special over the month or so you've been gone?" Lars looked surprised about the time he'd been gone.   
"I've only been gone a week?! Ugh..it's felt like light years..." He sighed. Doesn't light years measure distance..? He thought.  
"Why?" Steven asked, crossing his legs into a pretzel. He sat a bit more comfortably.  
"We're out her in space, right? I thought I had some big mission or something but, we've basically just been warping all over the universe. Nothing special." Lars put more weight in his first, skin folded over it slightly.   
"Oh. Well I'm sure you'll figure something out. Maybe Emerald will show up again." Steven laughed. "You haven't seen her have you? She hasn't been on Earth." He shrugged.   
"Now that I think about it...I haven't. Wonder if she even remembers me anymore." Lars dropped her arm, releases his head. He laughed.  
"I think she'll remember you after stealing her favorite ship and all the other stuff." Steven added.   
"Yeah, I guess you're right. What about you? Anything happen on Earth? How's Blue Lace handling the shop?" Lars asked, genuinely curious. Hard to believe he doesn't know anything about the last few months. When Steven organized this entire thing he wasn't even thinking about telling Lars about it. Any of it to be honest. All these months, and not a word.   
"Well, I swung by the shop. She seemed fine." He was obviously avoiding his feelings, and he knew that was bad it's just..awful to talk about. Certain days it's hard to think about.  
"What about Sadie and Shep? And the gems?"  
"Sadie and Shep went on tour with my dad..but I guess that kinda ended..." Because of me..he thought. Lars saw his expression change and wanted to press for details but didn't. "The gems are all fine. They run Little Homeschool independently now, too." He explained.  
"Oh, so you did drop out of that, huh? I get it, man." Steven felt down about that, even though it was all running so smoothly without him. He's a lot better than he was, but not perfect. His expression again resembled his thoughts. "Steven, are you okay? You seem kinda..." Lars blew a raspberry and made a thumbs down.   
"It's a lot, but I'm getting better. I really should explain, but it's a long story and I'm sure you have a colony to visit or something soon." Again, making excuses even though Lars said he had nothing to do.  
"Dude, I literally just told you I don't have anything to do. I won't push you if you don't want to talk about it." Lars ran a gloved hand through his pink hair. Steven sighed, knowing exactly what he had to do.  
"It's fine. I need to be talking about it. You'll understand after the entire story." Steven explained.   
"I'm listening..." Lars leaned closer, jokingly but also seriously.   
"After you left, things really only got worse. The whole barrier thing that happened the night you left, that kinda kept happening in a way. I'll only name the major events, which are still hard to discuss, just to spare you some pain." He laughed nervously.  
"Ok, got it." Lars replied.   
"After I quit running Homeschool, I picked up gardening. Non-magic gardening. I somehow managed to grow a plant that copied me and I unknowingly vented to it all of my personal thoughts. You can let your imagination run with that. That planted seeds," Steven laughed, Lars chimed in with a laugh as well. "Pun not intended, in the gems heads about well...me. Thing is..that's barely scratching the surface."   
"How does it...get worse?" Lars looked worried, but listened intently, trying not to interrupt.   
"Well, overtime things built. I started having really awful dreams. Worst part about that was when Peridot watched one unfold. It was...a bad day. But we ended up making up, and we're fine now." Lars wanted to know what the dream was about. But figured it best not to ask.   
"How did she see the dream if it was in your head?" That was a much better question.  
"My powers do weird stuff sometimes, especially under stress. My thoughts can broadcast on frequencies. So like..television, phones, radios even I'll bet." He explained.   
"That is..super cool Steven." Lars remarked.   
"It would be if I controlled what is broadcasted.." He sighed. "After that..." He thought for a moment. Oh no. That's when he proposed. "Ok, so this is gonna sound insane, but you have to let me explain before you say anything." Steven told him, unfolding his legs.   
"Uh..alright."   
"I proposed to Connie." Steven blurted our. Lars stood up swiftly and nearly yelled,   
"WHAT!?"   
"I told you, let me explain." Steven said, nervously. Lars took a breath and sat on the edge of his seat. "Maybe a day or two before I thought about it, I went skating for the first time. Me, Connie, Bismuth, and Pearl were all there. I was struggling with the skates, and wasn't asking for help, but I really wanted to talk to Connie. Her friends ended up being there and they all were skating a lot faster than me and I had no clue how to talk to her with them around." His expression grew a bit sad. "I got a pep talk from Bismuth, and to cut it short, I fused with Connie for the first time in what felt like forever. I was so..happy. I hadn't felt like that in so long, and it felt so good. Stevonnie is so much more confident and sure of their-self then I am. After a few days of thinking about it, I ended up concluding that maybe, I would propose. Of course I went to seek a second opinion though. Instead of Garners wisdom, I got adobe from Ruby and Sapphire, which I now realize was a really bad idea." Steven finished.   
"I get it. You wanted to marry her so you could be Stevonnie all the time, feel like you did all the time." Lars took a breath. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say she said no." Steven chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck.   
"Yeah.." Footsteps began to pitter-patter up the steps. The Off Colors.

"Oh, hey guys! Stevens here for a visit!" Steven stood up, prepared to give and receive hugs. He smiled.   
"Ste...ven?" Fluorite said, slurred because if her speed. She peeked our from the staircase. He walked over and gave the fusion a warm hug, and she returned it. Rhodonite smiled and opened her four arms for a hugs as well.   
"We didn't know you were coming!" She told him. He laughed.  
"I set up a visit schedule, so you all can see me once a week!" He explained.   
"Stevens here?!" Padparadsha exclaimed.   
"Padparadsha, we know." Lars told her. She simply smiled and opened her arms. Steven embraces her. The Rutile twins received the last hug.  
"How have you all been? Lars told me space hasn't been very exciting lately."  
The sighed in unison.   
"It's true." Rhodonite added.  
"We've sti..ll...be..een...ex..plor..ing." Fluorite chimed in.  
"I'm sorry guys." He frowned a little.   
"Hey, guys I'm sorry but me and Steven were kinda having a private talk." Lars felt bad, truly, but to be in the middle of such a story would be awkward. It already kind of was. They all understood and followed one another back downstairs.

Lars leaned back again in his grand seat.  
"Continue." He laughed.   
"Right. That obviously weighed on me for the rest of the day and a few days after that. I was really sad. I thought to call her, but put it off until I started swelling up randomly-" Lars cut him off.  
"What do you mean 'swelling up'?" He asked.  
"Random parts of my body grew random amounts. I was pink while it was happening.  
And Connie took me to the hospital since the gems were on a field trip and dad was on tour. Dr. Maheswaran gave me a lot of insight on what was going on, she told me that my childhood was causing me mental stress I didn't even know about. Then my Dad showed up and talked me down. It's was a whole thing. He tried to help me for a few days, but..." Steven trailed off. "We fought over something incredibly stupid and I just escalated the whole thing into something it wasn't."   
"I've fought with my dad before." Lars added.   
"Yeah but...we went to his parents house. I don't even know my grandparents, and apparently they're awful. My dad wanted to show me where he came up with our last name, and it was a song. Now that I'm not glowing pink, I realize that it's an amazing song at that. Anyways, I provoked a fight over a song and made it about his parents and my mom somehow. With distance from the whole situation, I see why my dad raised me the way he did. I wish I could say we talked it out, so badly, but that's not at all what happened."   
"So...what did happen then? I have a feeling it's not gonna be so great." Lars sighed.   
"Nope. We went home, and as soon as I got there the gems told me off for crashing the van, oh yeah, I did that because I ripped out the steering wheel while we were fighting. I'm not proud. I just wanted to get away from the entire situation, I started glowing pink again and cracking walls with my voice. They kept trying to pry me open, but I wasn't having it. I sped up, It's a power I have, and just left. I went to Jasper. If all people, er- gems."   
"Jasper, as in the one who wanted to shatter you and made..." Lars snapped his fingers trying to remember something. "Ah! Malachite, I think it was."   
"Yep, that one. We were never really on good terms. I explained my situation and she told me the worst ways possible to deal with my problems. Take it out on something, to be specific, the forest, rocks, etc. I 'trained' with her for three days, and I thought I gained better control of my power but...I didn't. I lost myself in it...and I-" Steven paused and took a deep breath. His eyes teared up. "I..I shattered her. She's fine now but, that doesn't change the fact that I did it." He sighed, blinking his tears away.   
"Woah..Steven, that's heavy." Lars knew what that meant, and to be fair that's pretty traumatizing. In human terms he murdered someone. "When did that happen..?"  
"I..I can't be sure. Few months ago? Time has been very blended over them. You'll know why."   
"Ok, you need a minute or?" Lars asked, just to be sure.  
"Oh, I'll be ok. After she was healed she started calling me 'My Diamond', and you know what that means. She bowed and saluted and everything. It was scary, she honored me for doing something unspeakable these days. I thought that I had to go to the one place I was avoiding with the whole Diamond powers thing. Homeworld. And obviously my emotions were fragile, so when so went I was very...moody. I saw Spinel again, and I'm happy I didn't do anything to her. She took me to Yellow, because I said I was swelling up. Then I got mad at her and I'm not exactly sure why, she sent me to Blue because my emotions were out do hand. Blue tried to help by using...clouds..? I guess? They were magic and if you touched them you were immediately happy. I didn't want to feel better, I wanted to be better. She told me this was about self worth and sent me to White. This is where everything got a whole lot darker."   
"Wow..." Lars shook his head. "Sorry, you can continue. But seriously if it's too tough to say don't say it." He reiterated.   
"Got it." Steven laughed. "I told her that my powers were starting to scare me and hurt others. I was worried. I can't remember the conversation, but she let me control her. That's her new power. I saw myself as..a Diamond. I hated the thought. I told her off although she couldn't really hear me. Somehow I thought why not flip the table? I remembered what she did to me years ago. I wanted her to feel how I felt. So, In my eyes it looked like I was slamming her head against a pillar...shattering her...but in the end it was me, beating myself up. White was confused, but I ran off. Pink and swollen. White, Yellow, Blue, and Spinel am lol came after me, but I dropped my sandal. Which is important later. I went back to Earth.   
"Ok, pause, you tried to shatter White Diamond?" Lars asked.   
"Yes, I was very unstable and not in a right mindset to be around any of the Diamonds really." Steven admitted.   
"Dude...ok, you may continue." 

"Back on Earth I finally got a good look at myself. I was bigger, and my eyes were pink. They had Diamonds in them, I simply didn't believe it. I kept telling myself none of this was real, everything was fine. I said it so loud that the gems heard me, so they came upstairs to see if I was home. I wish they didn't have to see me like that." Steven sighed. "I told them I was fine. I might've said it so many times that I thought it was true. I acted like I was fine, the Steven I always was. Helpful and happy, optimistic. I went to Little Homeworld and messed everything up, but I kept thinking I was fine, I was helping. Fixing my mistakes after I made them, even if they were colossal ones. It was such a dark day for me looking back. I can barely believe I acted like everything was fine like that. It's insane. I got home later that night and guess what was waiting for me!" He laughed nervously.  
"An intervention...?" Lars answered,   
"Correct! My pink pirate friend!" Steven winked playfully. "This was so...so..I don't even have a word." His eyes welled up again. "I basically confessed to two of the darkest thoughts I've ever had in front of my entire family. They were so shocked, but I fixed it. So, it didn't happen. I also said I went to the hospital which I didn't tell the gems about. I should note that I was pink and big all day. I said I could just keep...messing up and fixing it forever." He let tears roll down his cheeks, and gripped the legs of his jeans tight. "That's messed up! They all thought me to be the same kid I was..innocent and sweet. I'm not that anymore...I'm..a fraud.." It almost felt like he was relapsing after all the progress he'd made, but Steven made sure that didn't happen. He paused and took deep breaths.   
"Steven..." Lars was emotional and tears were hiding behind his eyes. He kneeled down in the ground and place is hand in Stevens chest, bringing back wonderful memories of their relationship over the years. Lars took Steven into a hug, a well needed one. "You're ok." He reassured. Steven blinked off a tear, and returned the hug.   
"Y-Yeah." He breathed again. "I said those exact words...followed by....'I'm a monster'." Lars released him and leaned against the foot of the chair, his long legs laid out in front of him.   
"Dude..that is so heavy. And-and dark. I hope you know I don't mean anything by what I'm saying it's just- I can think of anything else to say."   
"I do. After that...I don't remember much. It all seems so unreal from what everyone told me. I woke up in the middle of the ocean on the Clusters hand. My entire family was sitting in front of me, and I looked at myself like I didn't know who I was. My eyes just- cried. I couldn't stop it, and I feel into the warm embrace of everyone. I was so sad and hurt in every way. It hurt to cry, my body ached so much. Like I said, time after that blended. All I know is that I ate, drank, and was taken care of. I now have a therapist, and I'm venturing out on the road by myself. It was only like...last month that I finally felt normal again. I barely had a moment alone until then too." Steven let out a sigh of relief. "And that catches you up." Lars stayed silent for a second.   
"So you're leaving Beach City?" Is all Lars thought to say.   
"Already have. I'm going through all 39 states, but I made sure that I'm not completely derived of communication along the way. Communication is extremely important for me now...more so everyone else though. They're happy for me, but I know they're also worried."  
"Why are you driving across the states? I mean I get that some of them are pretty, but I always thought you were the type to stick around a little longer."   
"My dad left his home town because of his music, my mom left her home planet, same with the gems and you. I've learned that getting out of where you grew up is almost vital to growing up. It's just good for you, ya know? I'm looking for somewhere to settle down. I'm sure it'll all work out..I do have a few worries though." Steven admitted and stood up.   
"That's makes sense. Sadies traveling all over the place too. Wow. That's really smart. What are you worried about, though?" He laughed and stood up as well. Steven lifted his shirt and pointed at his gem and chuckled.  
"Not exactly normal to have this." He dropped his shirt again. "That's really the only thing."  
"I kinda assumed the whole world knew about gems, but probably not." Lars laughed.   
"Anyways, we'll catch up next week right?" Steven smiled, his mood was much more joyous now and you could tell. Happier for sure.  
"Yeah! I'll make sure I have an epic story to tell before you do."   
"I hope I didn't kill your mood." Steven opened his arms.   
"I'll be okay." Lars gave Steven a hug, and noticed truly how much taller Steven is compared to two years ago.   
"Oh! One more thing!" Steven pulled out his phone and stepped away. He searched for something in it for a moment. "Ah! Here it is!" Steven showed Lars a piercing chart for an ear. "I was online and then dug myself into a hole while I was at a rest stop. Now I'm heavily considering getting my ears pierced, but I can't pick which one." Lars was super happy about this, and smiled cheerfully. "Uh..Lars?" Steven waved a hand in front of his face.   
"Ok, I don't suggest stretching your ear lobes like I did. If you want my opinion I say go for tour upper helix and...your regular lobe." He sounded pretty professional explaining that, Steven thought.   
"Thanks!" Steven smiled.   
"Anyone else know about this? Because you have a lot of parents..? And I don't know how many would be ok with it. Specifically Pearl." Lars laughed.   
"It's a surprise, and technically they can't stop me. It's impulsive, so Garnet won't know either. I'm sorry to cut this last part short, but I should go before an entire week passes without me on Earth." Steven clicks off his phone and puts it away in his pocket.   
"I get it." Lars winks. "See you next week." Lars got on a knee so Steven could jump into his hair.   
"Bye!" Steven got a running started and hopped into the dimension.

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my favorite pieces I've ever done, and I love Steven and Lars' relationship. I hope you enjoyed this one!


End file.
